哈尔滨师范大学美国文学课程二册教材课件.ppt

American Literature Book II Table of Contents New England Transcendentalism Ralph Waldo Emerson Henry David Thoreau Herman Melville Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Walt Whitman Emily Dickinson Mark Twain Stephen Crane Henry James New England Transcendentalism 1. It is the summit of American Romanticism. 2. Leaders: Emerson and Thoreau 3. Manifesto: Nature written by Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1836, which is regarded as the Bible of New England Transcendentalism. 4. Club: Transcendentalist Club 5. Journal: The Dial 6. Sources: German idealism, Transcendentalism, and American Puritanism. 7. Major features ( ideas): 1) Placing emphasis on spirit, or the Oversoul, as the most important thing in the universe. --a new way of looking at the world 2) Stressing the importance of the individual—self-reliance. --a new way of looking at man 3) Offering fresh perception of nature as symbolic of the spirit or God. (Nature was not purely matter. It was alive, filled with God’s overwhelming presence. It was the garment of the Oversoul.) “The Universe is composed of Nature and the Soul.” “Spirit is present everywhere.” The individual soul communed with the Oversoul and was therefore divine. 8. Influence New England Transcendentalism was important to American literature. It inspired a whole new generation of famous authors as Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Melville, Whitman and Dickinson. And it inspired one of America’s most prolific literary periods in its history. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American philosopher, poet and essayist The most eloquent spokesman of New England Transcendentalism. Works Essays: Nature 1836 American Scholar 1837 Divinity School Address 1838 Essay (two series) 1841 1844 Representative Men 1850 English Traits 1856 7. The Conduct